WTSR New Noise: Air Traffic Controller & Thee Oh Cees

This week, WTSR Assistant Music Director Nelson Kelly highlights some of the best new albums that the College’s own radio station, 91.3 FM WTSR, puts into its weekly rotation.

Band: Air Traffic Controller

Album: “Black Box”

Release Number: 3rd

Hailing From: Boston

Genre: Half Organic Half Synth Indie Pop

Label: Self-released

Dave Munro, the singer/songwriter behind ATC wrote demos for songs while serving in the friggin’ Navy as a — you guessed it — air traffic controller. Together with Casey Sullivan — who provides the vocals for ATC — Munro has created an indie pop phenomenon. Catchy hooks over huge up lifting synth sounds with steady drums pumping out the rhythm are all over this album. Check it out because if you don’t support this veteran, you might as well be a commie. I rate it 6.9 ’Merica’s out of five bald eagles.

Must Hear: “People Watching,” “The House,” “What You Do to My Soul” and “Warrior”

Band: Thee Oh Sees

Album: “An Odd Entrances”

Release Number: 12th

Hailing From: San Francisco

Genre: Psychedelic Garage Rock

Label: Castle Face Records

Much to the exasperation of newcomers looking for a consensus entry point into the band’s endless discography, Thee Oh Sees have been so astonishingly consistent that few of its records tower far above — or for that matter, fall far below — any other. An Odd Entrances is the rare effortfrom the band that clearly announces itself as a lesser work. Even at just half an hour long, it’s so disconnected that it feels more like an odds-and-ends collection than the group’s actual odds-and-ends compilations. Casual fans can take a guilt-free pass on this one, but as always, the group’s insatiable base won’t have any reason to regret placing their pre-orders.

Must Hear: “The Poem,” “At the End, On the Stairs” and “Unwrap the Fiend, Pt. 1”